Dwyer recovering after heart attack

Former Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer is recovering in hospital after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday.

The 72-year-old experienced chest pains while he was on his farm at Bowral in the Southern Highlands and was taken to Bowral Hospital where he suffered a cardiac arrest.

Talk about being at the right place at the right time. If it had have happened at home I would be dead.

His heart stopped beating at one point and he was revived at Bowral Hospital before being rushed to the cardiac unit at Liverpool Hospital where he is now recovering.

Dwyer said he was lying in bed watching the cricket while recuperating when he spoke to Fairfax Media. He said he was lucky he had the heart attack while at hospital and not at home.

‘‘I’m doing well. I feel fine. I had a procedure yesterday afternoon [Wednesday] and feel fine today,’’ Dwyer said. ‘‘I had a cardiac arrest whilst I was in the emergency ward at Bowral Hospital. I was on a monitor and had the doctor with me and [then] I had the arrest.

‘‘They gave me the electrical charge straight away and I came straight back. Then they shipped me off to the cardiac unit at Liverpool Hospital. So I had the procedure [on Wednesday] and this morning I felt pretty much brand new.

‘‘Talk about being at the right place at the right time. If it had have happened at home I would be dead.’’

Dwyer first coached Australia in the early 1980s before starting a second stint in the role in 1988. His crowning glory was masterminding the 1991 World Cup triumph when the Wallabies beat England in the final at Twickenham.

In the late 1990s he coached in the English club competition before returning to NSW in 2001 to coach the Waratahs. He finished his stint at the NSW helm in 2003 after guiding the team to eighth in his first season, the finals in his second and fifth spot in his third.